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This enthusiasm for and idealization of Pacific Islanders was seldom
extended towards Africans or Afro-Caribbeans, who were commonly
considered as inferior. This was a convenient view for those who
benefited from the brutal but highly lucrative slave trade.
The philosophes were unanimous in their opposition to slavery, and de
Jaucourt denounced it in his article ‘The slave trade’ in the Encyclopédie.
The essential objection was that slavery was a violation of our common
human nature. As de Jaucourt wrote:
This buying of Negroes to reduce them to slavery is one business
that violates religion, morality, natural laws, and all the rights of
human nature.
(Gendzier, 1967, p.229)
A very few former African slaves, such as Olaudah Equiano and Ignatius
Sancho, succeeded in British society, thus vindicating the Enlightenment
belief in basic human equality.
EXERCISE
DISCUSSION
1
How do you account for the attraction of the myth of the noble
savage for men and women of the Enlightenment?
2
Why were the Encyclopedists hostile to the slave trade?
1
The myth of the noble savage appeared to provide a striking
combination of freedom and happiness, and to demonstrate the
inherent goodness of human nature. The discovery of the South Sea
Islanders and the visit to Britain of men like Omai seemed to lend
substance to the myth and attracted much uncritical acceptance of it.
2
The philosophes were unanimously critical of the slave trade both
because of its savage excesses and cruelty and because it denied to
the Africans and Afro-Caribbeans the inherent dignity as human
beings which men such as Equiano and Sancho showed they could
put to good use.
Section 5: Frederick the Great and enlightened absolutism
Unit 1 argues that the philosophes were usually open-minded about forms
of government. Voltaire was particularly eclectic, approving of
constitutional monarchy in Britain and royal absolutism in France,
provided that the government was enlightened. Near the end of the
article ‘Philosophe’ from the Encyclopédie, which forms an appendix to
Unit 1, the author cites approvingly a saying of the Roman Emperor
Antoninus Pius: ‘How happy peoples will be when kings are
VIDEO 1, BAND 1: ASPECTS OF ENLIGHTENMENT
71
philosophers or when philosophers are kings!’ (p.63). The author
underscores his message by adding: ‘Graft a sovereign on to a
philosopher ... and you will have a perfect sovereign.’ In the second half
of the eighteenth century several monarchs were influenced to a greater
or lesser degree by aspects of the Enlightenment and are often referred
to by historians as practitioners of ‘enlightened absolutism’. The main
examples are mentioned on p.48 of Unit 1.
In the final section, the video touches very briefly on the many-sided and
controversial Frederick the Great of Prussia (Figure V1.5), but exclusively
from the viewpoint of his connections with some of the aspects of the
Enlightenment mentioned in sections 1 to 4. Absolute ruler of Prussia
from 1740 to 1786, Frederick described himself as ‘a king by duty and a
philosophe by inclination’. The remark was significant. It was not that he
was a reluctant ruler: he did not hesitate to ride roughshod over the
pacifism of most of the philosophes in what he considered the interests of
the state, turning Prussia into a militaristic state and sparking off the two
great wars of the eighteenth century, 1740–8 and 1756–62. In many other
respects, however, he showed himself remarkably enlightened.
Frederick was culturally speaking a Francophile, who wrote copiously on
many themes central to the Enlightenment, including literature, history,
philosophy, scientific progress and the arts. He corresponded with
several philosophes, including Condorcet, d’Alembert, and particularly
Voltaire. D’Alembert and Voltaire visited him at Sans-Souci. Voltaire
stayed there for three years (1750–3). Their relationship was chequered
and Voltaire outstayed his welcome, but each admired the other’s
attachment to the Enlightenment:
You suppose that I think that the people need the curb of
religion in order to be controlled. I assure you these are not my
sentiments. On the contrary ... a society could not exist without
laws, but it could certainly exist without religion, provided that
there is a power which, by punitive sanctions, can compel the
masses to obey these laws. This is confirmed by the experience
of the savages discovered in the Marianne Islands [the Maldive
Islands], who had not a metaphysical idea in their heads. It is
proved still more by the government of China, where deism is
the religion of all the leading men in the state ... I see the present
work of the philosophes as very useful, because men ought to be
made to feel ashamed of fanaticism and intolerance, and because
it is a service to humanity to fight these cruel and atrocious follies
... To destroy fanaticism is to dry up the most deadly source of
division and hatred in European memory, the bloody traces of
which are found among all its peoples.
(Frederick II to Voltaire, c.15 December 1766, quoted in Lentin, 1985, p.138)
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Figure V1.5 J.H.C. Franke,
Frederick the Great, 1764, oil
on canvas, Cambridge
University Library. Photo: by
permission of the Syndics of
Cambridge University Library.
‘He talked to me about
literature, philosophy, even
politics and war and peace. I
would need a whole volume
to give you an idea of his
conversation. All I can tell
you ... is that the King
impressed me as greater even
than he is by reputation’
(d’Alembert to Mlle de
Lespinasse, 13 June 1763).
EXERCISE
DISCUSSION
What aspects of Frederick’s enlightenment emerge from section 5 of the
video?
Aspects of Frederick’s enlightenment mentioned include:
.
his promotion of mass inoculation against smallpox;
.
his repeal of harsh penalties against infanticide1 and a more
understanding attitude towards unmarried mothers;
.
his respect for classical antiquity, an interest in non-European
cultures, and religious toleration and open-mindedness.
1
Outside Prussia the crime was punished by public execution. The young Goethe
witnessed one such execution in Frankfurt in 1772.
VIDEO 1, BAND 1: ASPECTS OF ENLIGHTENMENT
73
After viewing
You might go through the article ‘Philosophe’, which forms an appendix
to Unit 1 (pp.61–3), noting connections with themes raised in sections
1–5 of the video. The article relates directly to section 1, since it was
published in the Encyclopédie, but your reading should also suggest links
with other sections.
References
Diderot, D. (ed.) (1751) Encyclopédie, vol.1, Paris.
Gendzier, S.J. (ed. and trans.) (1967) Denis Diderot’s ‘The Encyclopedia’:
Selections, New York, Harper Torchbooks.
Gibbon, E. (1998) The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire: 28 Selected Chapters, ed. A. Lentin and B. Norman, Ware,
Wordsworth Classics.
Lentin, A. (ed.) (1985) Enlightened Absolutism (1760–1790): A
Documentary Sourcebook, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Avero.
Music heard on the video
1
Joseph Haydn, Symphony no. 12 in B flat major, Menuetto.
2
Johann Sebastian Bach, Brandenburg concerto no. 3 in G, Allegro.
3
Joseph Haydn, Symphony no. 12 in B flat major, Finale/Presto.
4
KPM Music 315, Andy Clark, World Music 2, Exotic Journeys.
5
Johann Sebastian Bach, Brandenburg concerto no. 3 in G, Allegro.
Illustrations shown on the video
Section 1
Pages from the Encyclopédie, published 1751–72.
Nicolas Poussin, Spring (also called Adam and Eve in Earthly Paradise),
1660–4, Louvre, Paris.
Michel Van Loo, Diderot, 1767, Louvre, Paris.
J.G. Ziesenis, Frederick the Great, c.1760.
After Jean Huber, Voltaire Writing, engraving.
After Moreau le Jeune, Candide and Cunégonde, originally an illustration
in an eighteenth-century edition of Voltaire’s Candide, Bibliothèque
Nationale, Paris.
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AUDIO-VISUAL NOTES BLOCKS 1 AND 2
Section 2
Pages from the Encyclopédie.
Section 3
Johann Zoffany, Charles Towneley and Friends in the Park Street Gallery,
Westminster, exhibited at the Royal Academy 1783, partly repainted
c.1793, Towneley Hall Art Gallery and Museum, Burnley.
Nathaniel Dance, The Second Duke of Northumberland with his Tutor at
the Colosseum, Rome, c.1760 (Duke of Northumberland’s collection).
Angelica Kaufmann, J.J. Winkelmann, 1764, Kunsthaus, Zurich.
Thomas Jones, An Excavation of Antique Buildings, c.1777, Tate Gallery,
London.
L. Ducros, The Arch of Constantine, Rome, c.1782–9.
The Towneley Collection, British Museum (filmed on location).
Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire (filmed on location).
Section 4
Lord Clive meeting Mr Jafac Nawab of Murhidabad, c.1761–2, National
Portrait Gallery, London.
John Mowbray, c.1790, National Portrait Gallery, London.
Sir Joshua Reynolds, Captain John Foote (in turban), 1765, National
Portrait Gallery, London.
Johann Zoffany, The Palmer Family, British Library, London.
Parkinson, Maoris, British Library manuscripts, London.
W. Hodges, View from Point Venue, National Maritime Museum,
Greenwich.
Sir Joshua Reynolds, Omai, c.1775, private collection.
W. Hodges, Omai, c.1776, Royal College of Surgeons, London.
Allan Ramsay, Rousseau, 1766, National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh.
‘Slave man hung’, from Stedman, Narrative of a Five Years’ Expedition
against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam, 1806.
‘Slave woman hung’, from Stedman, Narrative of Five Years’ Expedition,
1806.
Olaudah Equiano, Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter.
VIDEO 1, BAND 1: ASPECTS OF ENLIGHTENMENT
75
Thomas Gainsborough, Ignatius Sancho, 1768, National Gallery of
Canada, Ottawa.
Section 5
Frederick the Great with tricorn hat, from H. Dollinger, Friedrich II von
Preussen, Munich, Lister Verlag, 1986. Original in private collection,
Breslau.
Frederick inspecting a battalion, from K.O. von Artin, Friedrich der
Grosse, Freiburg.
P.C. Baquoy after N.A. Monsian, Voltaire and Frederick at Sans-Souci,
early nineteenth-century engraving, Ullstein Bilderdienst.
Frederick-William I, from A. Palmer, Frederick the Great, Weidenfeld and
Nicolson, Archive für Kunst und Geschichte.
Mother breast-feeding infant, anonymous chalk engraving, Wellcome
Foundation.
Drawing of battle scene, from A. Palmer, Frederick the Great.
Palace and park of Sans-Souci, Potsdam (filmed on location).